■Nxviii / ;» /yv 325 



till he was f(,-tclKHl. The soldiers now made way for 

 nic al once, and a shamma was brought for me to sit 

 on. Our friend of the fat bullock "gift" came and 

 congratulated my men on the success of the interview ; 

 but I cannot say it was an (experience that I should 

 like to go through frequently, for with a young man 

 suffering badly from swelled head, in command of a 

 large, party of soldiers, far removed from the control 

 of any superior officer, it is difficult to calculate to 

 what lengths his injured sense of self-importance might 

 carry him. In about half an hour a guide was found 

 for me, and I started off much pleased with myself, for 

 the camp, which was pitched not far from where I had 

 left my party, but got a thorough drenching on the 

 way. That afternoon two of my men returned with a 

 mule which had bolted three days before, and, consider- 

 ing that its load included all my (lour and rice, the 

 Somalis' blankets, food for the Abyssinians, and two 

 tents, it may be imagined that we welcomed the return 

 of the vagabond with pleasure. The beast had been 

 discovered by some villagers, who were with difficultv 

 persuaded to hand over the things, which they 

 already looked on as their lawful prize. Though every- 

 thing had been unpacked, I found that only a tin of 

 vaseline was missing : apparently the idea of an entirely 

 new pomatum for the hair had proved too tempting for 

 the natives to resist. 



Next morning, the way lay up-hill and then along an 

 undulating breezy plateau, the Tana shining like a sheet 

 of glass far to the south of us. Gradually the tongue of 

 high land we were on grew narrower, and we had a 



